


One Rogue cleverer than another

by Ameliapll



Category: The Flash (TV 2014)
Genre: AU, Angst, Canon Disabled Character, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Hartley's POV, M/M, Male-Female Friendships, Multi, Polyamory, Rogues Gallery, Whump, poor Hartley, season two rewrite
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-28
Updated: 2017-05-17
Packaged: 2018-08-11 11:34:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,556
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7890136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ameliapll/pseuds/Ameliapll
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rogue that I am, he whispers to himself, I lie, I cheat, I do anything for pelf, but who on Earth can say that I'm not pious- Thomas Hood</p><p> </p><p>Or, the one where Hartley Rathaway joins the Rogues, gets seduced by a terrorist, murders someone, and, in possibly the oddest turn his life has taken, befriends Cisco Ramon. Starts in 1x22</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. 1

It was what Hartley presumed to be a nice day. Of course, he couldn't actually tell whether it was a nice day or not, since he was stuck in a cage under S.T.A.R. labs. 

 

He was reading, some book he'd read a million-and-one times before, but one of the only one's he had access to in the pipeline, when gas began to pour down in his chamber. Coughing, he sprinted to the glass door and threw his body against it, hoping that it would yield under his, admittedly, minimal weight. When it didn't, he tried to hold his breath for as long as was possible, but he eventually needed to breathe.

 

And when he did, all went black. 

The Flash

Hartley opened his eyes. Everything was still somewhat blurry, but he could make out some green lights. Thankfully, his hearing remained intact, and rather than hear the screaming that tortured him day in and out, all he could hear were muffled voices. Reaching in his pockets, he was relieved to find he had his gloves, but when he slid them on, he found they didn't work. 

 

There was a gasp near him, and Hartley struggled to sit up. When he succeeded, he saw a man with brown hair and a stubble arching his fingers, attempting to conjure up some Meta trick. 

 

"Don't bother," a woman drawled. "Your powers don't work in here. None of ours do." 

 

"The hell's going on?" demanded the man

 

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say our God-given team of heroes were kidnapping us against our will." Hartley drawled, smirking slightly when the woman and the man turned to him.

 

"They're moving us," another man said, one with short black hair this time, rolling his eyes at Hartley's statement

 

"Where?" 

 

"Funny," the man said, raising an eyebrow, "I didn't get an itinerary." The first man growled and kicked at a wall. 

 

"Hey! Tall, dark, and handsome: I said, your powers are offline!" The woman growled

 

"All brawn," A fourth man said. Hartley tilted his head up to see a bald man with no eyebrows, grinning. "No brains." 

 

The two men got in a dispute, which Hartley tuned out, only filing in some details (the fourth man was Kyle Nimbus, belonged to a crime family, had a failed execution 1 year ago) until the woman got involved

 

"So you're so stupid mad right now, Mardon, you're just going to pick a fight with anyone?" asked the woman with a grin. How did she know his name? 

 

Mardon looked at her for a moment, face twitching into something that vaguely resembled amusement and gentleness, "Guess so." 

 

"If I had my powers right now," threatened Kyle, looking pissed, "I would gas you all out of existence."

 

"Then you'd be standing in a truck full of corpses." A fifthman deadpanned, smiling as the three Metas and one non-meta turned to him. "What would you get out of that?"

 

"Peace and quiet," Kyle raised an eyebrow.

 

Hartley dropped his face to his knees, wondering what life events had exactly happened, making sure he was here. 

 

"I don't know about you guys, but I don't need my powers to fill this room full of bodies," said Mardon quietly. "Come on," 

 

He and Kyle took a step closer to each other, just as the room swerved violently. They were in a truck, Hartley realised as the force threw him against the wall. 

 

"What was that?" the first man, the one with black hair, asked.

 

"Wherever they're taking us..." the last man, the one who kept smiling, "we're here."

\----

Mardon and Kyle were engaging in pushing each other around.

 

"Killing each other won't solve anything," Hartley mumbled, narrowly avoiding a kick to the face. "But, please, continue." 

 

"Don't ever touch me," spat Kyle, staring down Mardon, whose eyes went wide. When Hartley followed them, he saw exactly what the older man was looking at. Parts of Kyle had turned to green, swishing gas. 

 

"Wait..." He then realised something: he was locked in a truck with Meta-humans who could kill him and prevent anyone from finding the body. He knew Kyle could turn to gas, he was already partly there. But what could the other four do?

 

"Look." Mardon said. Kyle looked down, saw the gas, and grinned like a kid in a candy shop. Mardon conjured up a tornado in the palm of his hand and laughed as it got larger. Hartley closed his eyes.

 

"Oops."

\---

The door swung open and the smiler and Kyle landed on the ground, while Hartley, Mardon, the woman and the guy with short black hair stood on the edge. "Trip's cancelled!" Mardon snapped.

 

"Take your last breath!" snarled Kyle before turning into gas. The smiler grinned and emitted lasers from his eyes. Jesus. 

 

A gun clicked near him and the woman stared at him and Mardon with wide eyes for a moment, "I'm out of here!" she snapped, leaping off the truck. A bullet hit the truck near Hartley, causing him to flinch. More lasers.

 

Caitlin looked up. Hartley glanced out of the side of his eye to Roy who looked her directly in the eye, letting his pupils glow red. For a moment, hers did too. And then she started beating Cisco, yelling some nonsense about how he killed Ronnie. (Did no one at S.T.A.R Labs listen to him?)

 

Flash was able to stop Kyle from gassing him, so Lasers started focusing on him. Mardon let out a growl, and ice blue lightening hit Flash in the chest.

 

"What can you do?" he demanded turning to Hartley.

 

"If my gloves worked...wait." Hartley had charged his gloves before being put in the pipeline and hadn't used them when in there. Experimentally, he pressed a button and sent out a shock wave. He turned to Mardon with a smirk, one which was readily returned, and said, "I can do that." 

 

"Simmons! Finish him!" Mardon, apparently the newfound leader of this little group, barked. Simmons, the laser guy, began focusing more and more on Flash. "You're next." Mardon said, turning to him and red-eyes. 

 

The three jumped off the truck and began towards him, eyes and gloves glowing red and green, respectively. Mardon raised his hands to the sky. Simmons shot out a few more lasers when there was a whine and an ice-blue flash.

 

When Simmons turned to them, his face was scorched. Hartley's stomach turned. Rest in peace. I didn't know you very well, but you were amongst the sanest on that truck. 

 

Behind him stood a man, dressed for battle in a parka and goggles, smiling cheerfully as he pointed his gun at them. "How about we call tonight a tie?" he suggested, sauntering over to them.

 

Red-eyes let his eyes turn red, but powered down when a female in a leather jacket pressed a gold-highlighted gun to his head. "I'd power down if you don't want me to melt your face," she purred. 

 

"Let's all go our separate ways." the man said. What if we don't have any separate ways? wondered Hartley. The man continued, "my name is Leonard Snart."

 

"I know who you are," snapped Mardon.

 

"Always pleased to meet a fan. Just remember who it was that made sure you didn't get thrown on that plane bound for nowhere." The thought caused Hartley's stomach to twist again- no one would care.

 

He couldn't help but shoot a betrayed look at Cisco and Caitlin and Flash. Sure, he was a dick to them, but he was the only human in a group of Metahumans. Was he that bad they wanted to kill him?

 

"You're just lettin' us go?" Mardon shrugged. Leonard smirked. "Why'd you shoot that guy?" 

 

"He owed me money," Leonard shrugged. Hartley let his eyes dart from the stranger in front of him to the Flash, lying on the ground, and surpressed a smirk. He had a feeling it ran a bit deeper than that. Near him, the brunette woman had a smirk on her face.

 

"What? Want a thank you?" Mardon asked when Leonard looked expectantly at him.

 

"Who doesn't like a thank you?" asked Leonard pleasantly. 

 

"...thank you?" Hartley asked, more than said. Mardon turned to him with what could only be described as a betrayed expression on his face. Leonard approached Hartley, and patted him on the shoulder.

 

"You are so very welcome." 

 

 

Leonard turned around and approached the Flash, groaning in pain. Mardon and the eye-coloured man wandered off elsewhere. Hartley let his eyes flicker between the two.

 

How long has it been since I was locked in the pipeline? I haven't been able to pay for anything. No one cares...

 

"Yes?" the woman asked, turning to stand in front of Hartley, "Why are you still here?" 

 

"Nowhere else to go." Hartley shrugged.

 

"Aren't you Hartley Rathaway?" the woman asked playfully. When Hartley looked at her in surprise, she just shrugged, "I do my research."

 

"Yeah. I am. But my parents disinherited me." 

 

"Why? Because of the Particle Accelorator? Because you became a, you know, metahuman." the woman asked. 

 

"No, I'm not a metahuman. Because I'm gay. Apparently, having a gay son is equivalent to murdering 6000 people. But then, tradition is the illusion of permanence." \

 

"You're not a metahuman? Then why..." the woman's eyes flashed. 

 

"Because I'm a dick. And I hurt people. And these gloves almost killed the Flash." Hartley tried to smile. 

 

"We have the safehouse. I like you. Lenny will like you if I like you. Micky...do you have a problem with fire?" the woman asked

 

"No?" Hartley shook his head, trying to get around the idea of a murderer being nicknamed Lenny. 

 

"Good. Then you can stay with us." smiled the woman, looping her arm through Hartley's. "Oh, and I'm Lisa, by the way." She walked over and found the motorbike. 

 

"I'm actually really excited to see how it plays out," Leonard was saying as he stood up. 

 

"Oh my God!" Cisco shouted, running over. Hartley unlooped awkwardly from Lisa and strode over to Cisco, and threw his fist into Cisco's face. 

 

"Locking me in a cage wasn't enough? You had to send me, a human, to an island full of metahumans?" spat Hartley.

 

"Lisa," Leonard said.

 

"Lenny, this is Hartley. Hartley, Lenny. I'm sure you two will get on just fine," Lisa smirked. She then proceeded to talk to Leonard with many overdone hand gestures. 

 

Finally, Leonard turned to Hartley with a throwing up of his hands.

 

"Fine, you can come stay with us. We'll discuss rules at home." Leonard sighed. Hartley tried to ignore the warm feeling that the word home gave him. He hadn't had one of those in a long time.

 

"Now, let's go." Leonard said, before pressing a series of numbers on his phone. He turned to Hartley. "We'll be back for you."

 

"Bye, Cisco," Lisa said flirtatiously. Cisco looked at her in shock as the motorbike drove into the night. 

\---

It took a near hour for them to get back, and another while to get them to the safehouse. After they got back, Leonard went over the rules with him, Hartley generally agreeing to them. 

 

And now here he was, lying in his bed, staring at the ceiling. He'd done it. He'd gotten out of the pipeline, and he had a place to stay. With people who, he assumed, wouldn't kill him. Closing his eyes, Hartley allowed himself to relax for the first time in months.


	2. 2

 

It's about 3:00 am when Lisa Snart catches Hartley Rathaway attempting to sneak downstairs. Years of staying awake to avoid surprise when her drunken father would barge in has caused irregular sleeping patterns, and for the first time, she's not alone. 

 

"Couldn't sleep either?" she whispers. Hartley  _jumps_ _,_ causing her to giggle slightly.  

 

"Memories," Hartley mutters, sitting near her. Lisa holds up her coffee mug in a silent toast. The sight of the beverage makes Hartley's eyes light up for a moment before they go back to normal. 

 

"Want one?" she whispers, getting up and grabbing another mug. "C'mere, I'll show you how it works." 

 

Once he sits back down, she stares him down. " _Now,_ do you want to talk about it?" 

\-------------------------

Leonard Snart wakes up at eight, comes down and sees Lisa and Hartley passed out on the table, six already finished coffees between them. 

 

He grins, genuinely for once.

 

"You sure it was a good idea with the kid?" Mick asks, coming up behind him. 

 

"Mick, when have I ever been wrong?" Leonard replies, not taking his eyes off the kid. 

\-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Things go fantastically, until they don't. 

 

Hartley's technology  _works,_ and the Rogues rob a jewellery shop for Lisa's birthday. 

 

And then a swirling grey  _thing_ appears above S.T.A.R. labs. 

 

Len whips his goggles off and stares up at it in alarm. All he can think about are Mick and Lisa. His stomach turns when a woman with blue eyes and dark hair screams at him to  _pleasehelpme_ and he can't even take a step towards her when, screaming, she's torn from her car and sucked into the sky. 

 

Suddenly, lightning crackles the sky as Barry runs, attempting to stop it. 

 

"Come on," Len whispers, feeling his breath catch. 

\-----------------------------------------

_Lise, what's going on? Txt me back_

_RU Okay? You've stopped responding_

_Text me ASAP_

_What's going on???_

 

Hartley throws his phone across the room in frustration. Lisa, Mick and Len won't respond.  _Nothing_ on the news comes up. 

 

 

He picks up his thankfully uncracked phone and prepares to call Len again when the door bangs open. 

 

"I remember you." Mark Mardon smirked, eyes glinting. "You're the kid from Ferris Air. Now you're Snart's pet?" 

 

"Actually," Hartley began indignantly, drawing himself up to his admittedly unimpressive height, "I happen to be his tech." 

 

Mardon chuckles sarcastically, "That's cute. Listen, is Snart in?" 

 

"No," Hartley states. 

 

"Then I guess we're gonna have to do this the hard way," Mardon says ominously. Hartley has just enough time to register Shawna Baez appearing in front of him before all goes black. 

\----------------------------------

The cloud dies, and Len exhales in relief. He pulls out his phone. 

Hartley's called. Multiple times. 

 

 

He tries to call the kid back, but it doesn't go through. A sick feeling rises in his stomach, but he shakes it off. 

 

"Hey, Lise. Can you call the kid?" Len asks, trying to make sure his voice stays cool. 

 

"Weird, he didn't pick up." Lisa shrugs, clearly unbothered. Mick shrugs too. 

 

 

When Len Snart was little, he always knew when something happened to Lisa. He got this...odd feeling. Like fear but also not. 9 times out of 10, when he got that feeling, something had happened. 

 

"Let's go," he says. 

\--------------------------------

When they get back, all seems to be fine. Nothing out of place. 

 

"Hart?" Lisa calls in a sing-song tone, clearly mocking Len's worries. 

 

Nothing. Lisa and Len exchange a slight look. 

 

The house is empty. 

 

Lisa's heart begins to pound in worry. 

 

"Lise," Len calls out with a slightly strangled tone. She sprints down, nearly tripping on the stairs. 

 

 

On the table was Hartley's phone, shattered beyond use. 

 

 

"Someone took him, didn't they?" Lisa whispers. 

 

"Yeah," Len replies. 

Both Snart's make eye contact with each other and the unspoken promise of bloodshed passes between them. 


End file.
